On Monday, Israeli ministers advanced a bill that would give Prime Minister Netanyahu influence over a political commission of inquiry into the security failures on October 7. T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights spoke out against this blatant conflict of interest and demanded an independent state commission of inquiry, Israel’s gold standard for investigating government failures, saying Netanyahu’s involvement in the commission would impede transparency and justice due to the victims of that day.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, said:
“Today we are calling for an independent state commission of inquiry into the failures of Israel’s government to protect its residents from Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023. We make this demand in support of all those who lost loved ones, suffered emotional and physical trauma, or lost their homes on October 7. We echo the resolution that passed at this year’s World Zionist Congress calling for a state commission of inquiry that will identify ‘the root causes of the failures, the determination of personal and systemic responsibility, and the formulation of operational recommendations for reforming systems, in order to prevent such a disaster from recurring in the future.’
“In doing so, we recognize that Hamas holds ultimate responsibility for the morally repugnant and inexcusable atrocities of that day. These were gross violations of international law, and Hamas must be held accountable for their crimes. At the same time, it is imperative in a democracy that citizens can rely on accountability for their own government, which has a responsibility to protect them.
“Some of the failures of this government are intelligence failures, but others are more expansive. This government must be held accountable for its failures, and that cannot happen if Prime Minister Netanyahu is involved in the commission or has the power to limit its scope and protect his own interests. Prime Minister Netanyahu must be held accountable for his yearslong facilitation of the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars from the Qatari government to Hamas in an attempt to isolate and weaken the Palestinian Authority, prioritizing weakening Palestinian diplomatic efforts over Israeli safety. In the months leading up to the attack, Netanyahu’s government abrogated its responsibility to its citizens in the Gaza envelope, compromising national security by redirecting resources to settlement expansion and to weakening the judiciary. And time and time again, we have seen this and previous governments take an approach of ‘managing the conflict’ when what was desperately needed were lasting and just political solutions.
“In 1982, when the Israeli government initially refused a committee of inquiry over the Sabra and Shatila massacre, Rabbi Yehuda Amital of Har Etzion Yeshiva in the West Bank wrote a letter to his students. He warned that the event had caused ‘beyond the moral aspects which cry out to the depths of the heavens — a great chillul hashem [desecration of God] in Israel and among the nations,’ and he accused the government of prioritizing the honor of the prime minister over that of God. With Yom Kippur days away, Amital added: ‘My entire being shakes and trembles out of fear of the Day of Judgment, for as it is known, for the sin of chillul hashem, even Yom Kippur does not atone.’ Today, we are once again seeing a sitting prime minister prioritizing his own reputation and power over doing what is right and taking responsibility for his and others’ failures.
“This commission should take place alongside an investigation into other failures of the State of Israel in the two years since October 7, including into the massive civilian casualties in Gaza, wanton destruction of Gazan infrastructure, consistent withholding of aid from the population as a negotiating tactic, and other violations of international humanitarian law. The former hostages and hostage families also deserve answers about the disturbing failure of the Israeli government to prioritize securing the safe release of its citizens and other residents.”
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About T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights brings the Torah’s ideals of human dignity, equality, and justice to life by empowering our network of over 2,300 rabbis and cantors to be moral voices and to lead Jewish communities in advancing democracy and human rights for all people in the United States, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.